People seemed to be on all the bridges, on the quays
opposite and in big crowds idling past the bookstalls. On
the speedway, skaters rolled, bikers glided and the rest
travelled on foot, happy to be getting nowhere much not too
fast.

Across the Pont Notre-Dame the flower market in the
Place Louis Lépine had been taken over by vendors of
little birds and cages of all sizes for them.

Throngs of other people were passing from one bank of
the Seine to the other and all the cafés around
Place Saint-Michel were full.

Just after the Boulevard Saint-Germain, I missed a
'photo of the year' when there was a freak pause in
the usually heavy traffic, giving an unobstructed view of
the Cluny baths. I hung around for ten changes of the
traffic lights, but the moment was gone.

Snack stop
for thirsty strollers on right-bank expressway.

Even in the shade, all the café terraces in the
Place de la Sorbonne were full. Further up Saint-Michel,
sun lovers were having a convention at the cafés
opposite the Luxembourg gardens.

But this was minor compared to the numbers in the
gardens themselves. From a distance it looked like water
fans were ten-deep around the big pond in front of the
palace. Hordes were sprinkled everywhere I looked in the
shade under the trees too.

It was further to go than I intended, so I left the park
at the Rue Auguste Comte. I couldn't figure out why
Saint-Michel was so quiet until a couple of thousand people
on rollers came past, headed towards the Seine.

After they passed, there was a broken down old Renault
R5 being pushed uphill by its driver, in the upcoming lane
reserved for buses. A traffic cop who had been watching the
Rue Auguste Comte, ran down and got behind the car and
helped push it up.

When my bus 38 came, it was overfull of Parisians who
all probably had a bit too much fresh air. We were crammed
together like sardines all the way to
Denfert.

Strikes of the Week on Thursday

These are forecast to be grouped on
Thursday, which is also predicted to be cool. Several of
the SNCF's unions will be sitting out the day and this will
affect suburban rail traffic in the Paris
area.

Sunday's last act - a couple of thousand folks
rolling around Paris.

Only one of the RATP's unions has called for a day of no
métros and buses, but it is the biggest union. If
you are flying, note that air traffic controllers will be
also having a protest day. Teachers will also abandon
classes - which will cause many parents to stay away from
work.

There will not be a total shut-down of public transport,
or flights, but both will be more or less affected. Make
your plans accordingly.

Six unions will be involved, and they plan to have a
common protest march from the Place le la République
to Saint-Augustin, beginning at 13:00. Expect this to
seriously confuse traffic on the right bank.

Public sector workers are unhappy with the government's
proposed 'reform' of pension plans. You don't have to be
French to know that the word 'reform' usually means 'less'
- except when coupled with 'taxes.'

'About'
Café Metropoleô Blanc de Blanc

Silence on this subject means that a great deal of work
is going on behind the scenes at 'The Shed,' as the winery
is known. Use this link to
take you to the latest news about Metropole's sparkling
wine, and to all the previous 'news' about
it.

Café Metropole Club 'Reports'

Tap this link to last week's 'Red Dirt' Arrives In Paris!'
club meeting report. The news wasn't absence of members
from New Jersey - there were none - but a very live
reminder of the club's very first 'Quote of the Week.'

The coming meeting of the Café Metropole Club
will be on Thursday, 3. April. The saint's 'Day of the
Week' will be Saint-Richard. He is no relation. He doesn't
seem to be even named after a town in France. This saint
may be a mistake.

Nearly all of the details concerning the club - only the
club's address is useful to know - are handily placed on
the one-stop compact 'About the
Club' page. The virtual membership card on this page
may be useful, but only one member has ever claimed
this.

This Was Metropole One Year Ago:

Issue 7.13/14 - 25. March
2002 - This slim double issue began with the
Café Metropole column's 'Taking Another Powder To
New York.' But not this year! The one feature was titled
'Do-It-Yourselfers at the Salon du Livre.' The updates for
the Café Metropole Club meetings on 28. March and 4.
April had no titles. The blurb said, 'See
late reports in issue 7.15.' The updates were done 'on
time' by Linda Thalman, but put online later. This issue's
'Scene' column had 'Brava At the Café de Flore.'
There were four brand new 'Posters of the Week' and Ric's
'Cartoon of the Week' had the caption, 'Easter
Recycled.'

This Was Metropole Two Years Ago

Issue 6.14 - 2. April
2001 - The week's Café Metropole column was
titled, 'Springtime for Museums.' The 'Au Bistro' column's
headline was 'Jacques Gets a Summons.' The feature of the
week was titled 'A New New-Age 'Startup.' The Café
Metropole Club update for this issue on 5. April had the
'Late Mardi Gras On 'Black Thursday II' report. The 'Scene'
column had a 'Run Around Paris.' There were four stunningly
new 'Posters of the Week' and Ric's Cartoon was captioned,
"What Kind of 'Ed' Are You?" This issue's Photo Page
featured 'Behind the Louvre's Pyramid.'

38 Cups of
Ghastly Instant-coffee

Early last Thursday morning Metropole's Web-server quit
broadcasting Metropole's pages to readers. The cause of the
failure was not mechanical. The Café Metropole
Club's secretary did not find out about this until the club
'report' was to be uploaded, very early on Friday
morning.

There may be some readers and club members who think
Metropole's server-lady Linda Thalman serves drinks
somewhere, or only takes rock-and-roll dancing and sailing
lessons, and jollies up occasional club meetings, but this
is not the entire story.

Way, way, far behind the scenes, the server-lady keeps
Metropole's Web-server running. Mostly - for over seven
years now - it has spun smoothly around with only the
rarest occasional hiccup. After 38 cups of ghastly
instant-coffee the sleepless server-lady reported that
Metropole was online again on Saturday. It was only Sunday
that the club's secretary could upload the Thursday meeting
report.

As 'Ed' I apologize for the inconvenience. Also as 'Ed,'
I am grateful to the server-lady for the extraordinary
effort she made to restore Metropole Paris to the 'Net.
Sending a 'thankyou' to Linda Thalman for her efforts
will not be amiss. I have already written to her.

Thanks also go to concerned readers and club members who
sent alerts to me, 'Ed,' or the club's secretary.

For sleepless count-down fans, the number of days left
this year is 275. This may seem like a long time until
2004, and it still seems to be a long time until summer,
which is 'officially' 83 long days from now. Almost in
telescope range.